How should a notebook cooler work?

I hope this isn't a repost - I did some searching and only saw reccomendations, so here we go.

Should the fans pull air away or push air to the computer? Both make sense, but pulling air away would make it harder for the internal fan to get air, and pushing air to could ruin the fan, right? I am working on building a base that has a cooling unit in it, and I can't tell how it should work, or if there are certain times it would be best. Since there are two fans should I block them off and have one feed air to the fan/vents, while the other sucks air away from the hard drive? Thanks for the suggestions.

 

They should pull air away. That's how it should be with cooling anything when you do not have full circulation, that is, a fan blowing air in, and a fan blowing air out. That's the way my targus notebook cooler works, and it works great. Reduces cpu temp, and durastically reduces HD temp compared to like using on my lap w/o the cooler.
It should definately suck air away from the HD, and probably the same w/ the cpu fan/vents, because the cpu fan sucks air away from the cpu, thus blowing it out the vents. So the vents don't really need air unless like there's something around them covering them entirely...

kinda off topic here:
hey caleb, are you a member of a PDA forum or something....your name seems familiar...

 

shouldn't a notebook cooler blow air through the bottom since notebooks intake air from the bottom and blow the hot air out the side or back.

 

i have both blowers and suckers ;p the blower keeps both cpu and hdd tad cooler than the sucker. cpu temp usually stays under 110f, hdd stays under 90f
(blower = spire, sucker=targus pad) both can be powered via usb or ac
the blower, it's a small one that raises the back of the laptop and blows air under it. i leave that in my office and on my other desks..
the sucker, i leave at home. use when i'm in bed, on the couch or whenever i have the laptop on my lap.

 

I believe it would depend on your computer's fans. If the outgoing vent is at the bottom, you would want one that pulls air out. If you vents are on the sides or elsewhere, the bottom vent is mostl likely taking air in. Thus, use the blowing one.

 

I believe all notebook coolers blow air into your vents, they do not draw air out.

This is because majority, if not all (I'm pretty sure all), notebooks draw air from the bottom or front of the case.

Yeup, there you have it. Of course you can position the fan so that it will draw air out if you'd like, but not a good idea.

Cheers,
Mike

 

i have an acer 5500z, the air blows on the right side, theres heat coming from left hand rest, i think thats the HD, i think i need a fan thats blowing at the bottom, but how would i put a fan sucking at the right side? hmmm. that ps2 slim fan that can be powered by usb can be a solution, if only the usb port is near the grill

 

Yeah, Im a moderator on the PPCMag.com forums, I haven't been around there lately, should pick that back up, that forum is a lot of fun. You there too?

 

There are alot of different sucking and blowing ideas around here, let me see if I get what the suggestion is:

Where the hard drive is, the air should be sucked away from the computer, getting the hot air away from it. Then, where the CPU, GPU, and RAM are, where the vents are (they take air in on the bottom and blow it out on the right side) it would be best to push air through them.

If thats right, two fans would work well for this, one can push air through the vents, the other can pull the hot air away from the HDD.

How does this sound to those of us who understand this?

 

Ok, PcMag forums...that's where I thought I had seen you before....

Anyway, now that I think if it, it would be a better idea to blow air into the vents because that way, the cpu fan may come on less often...
And yea, suck air away from the HD, or you could maybe make it so that you can switch the fan directions and then try them out and see what works better...